Shopify

Shopify Pricing South Africa 2026: Full ZAR Breakdown

Alister

E-commerce Consultant

| 6 Aug 2026 20 min

| Meta | Value |

| SEO title | Shopify Pricing South Africa 2026: Full ZAR Breakdown |

| Meta description | Shopify pricing South Africa 2026: every plan in Rands (monthly vs annual), staff accounts, transaction fees and all-in cost tables. Budget 6-8% of revenue. |

| Keywords | shopify pricing south africa, shopify cost za, shopify plans zAR |

Shopify Pricing Plans in South Africa (2026)

Shopify offers three main plans for South African merchants, all priced in US dollars but chargeable on South African bank cards with the current exchange rate applied. Here is the full breakdown:

Shopify Basic - R799/month (USD $49) or R649/month billed annually. Includes 2 staff accounts, basic reports, 24/7 support and all core store features.
Shopify - R2,499/month (USD $159) or R1,999/month billed annually. Includes 5 staff accounts, professional reports, gift cards and lower transaction fees.
Shopify Advanced - R7,999/month (USD $499) or R6,499/month billed annually. Includes 15 staff accounts, advanced reports, custom pricing and lowest transaction fees.

Shopify Starter (R99/month) lets you sell via social media and messaging apps without a full store. Shopify Plus starts at R50,000+/month for enterprise.

Transaction Fees and Payment Gateways

If you use Shopify Payments (powered by PayFast in South Africa), there are no additional transaction fees. If you use a third-party gateway like Yoco or Paystack, Shopify charges an extra fee:

Basic plan - 2% extra on each transaction
Shopify plan - 1% extra
Advanced plan - 0.5% extra

Shopify Payments in South Africa is powered by PayFast and supports cards, instant EFT, Zapper and SnapScan. Merchant fees from PayFast are typically 2.9% + R3.50 per transaction.

Hidden Costs to Budget For

Themes - Free themes are available; premium themes cost R800-R2,500 one-off from the Shopify marketplace
Apps - Essential apps (email marketing, reviews, SEO) cost R150-R800/month each
Domain - R120-R200/year for a .co.za domain
Product photos - Professional photography or AI-generated images: R500-R5,000
Shopify SEO by CrazyClicks - [Contact us](/contact) for Shopify SEO setup

What Should You Budget?

A realistic monthly budget for a growing South African Shopify store is R2,000-R5,000 including the plan, apps and payment fees. Stores doing R50,000+/month in revenue should budget 6-8% of revenue for all Shopify-related costs.

Is Shopify Worth It in South Africa?

Yes - if you want a professional store that accepts local payment methods, ships locally and scales. The trade-off is that Shopify takes a cut of every sale and monthly costs add up. See our full [Shopify South Africa guide](/blog/shopify-south-africa-complete-guide-2026-5/) for a deeper comparison with WooCommerce.